The Alleyman returns with THREE brand new decks as one-time printings: the Alleyway Tarot, Oracle of Secrets, and Oracle of Play.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Orders Locked! | Shipping Costs Next Week | Alleyman Pins!
6 months ago
– Fri, Mar 08, 2024 at 05:11:55 PM
As of now, 6pm MST, orders and addresses are locked.
If you didn't update your address or get the items you wanted in time, please reach out immediately to [email protected]. I will help who I can, as long as I can, but there will be an absolute point where I can't even assist any longer, even if it means we ship to the wrong address! Be sure to set up mail forwarding if that's the case.
If we have to re-ship due to you not getting the correct address in on time, it will be on your dime. Apologies for that hard line, but the money has to come from somewhere, and I have given fair notice. Thank you for your understanding.
And reminder that we are packing orders this month and sending them overseas to then be distributed in the US and Canada. This means US/Canada packages will be packed and labeled now and then go on a boat for a few weeks and then warehouse to THEN go in the mail, so we needed the address now and can't change it between now and the day it goes in the mail, as they are already pre-labeled in China. All international orders will be going out directly from China after the US orders are on the boat, so likely many Asian orders will arrive first, then European, African, and South American should be arriving around the time US and Canadian orders are going out. Weirdly in the past it seemed India and Mexico were some of the last to get their items. Distance and postage difficulties, perhaps? But we should see packages arriving to people in April. For the US, likely the latter half of April, first week of May at the latest from the schedule I last saw.
How To Check Your Survey
If you haven't yet filled out your survey at all, you can still get it done any time in the next 30-45 days or so. I'll let you all know when the timer begins, as it will be when the first wave of items and orders are shipped. Getting it in now will be too late to go in the initial batch of shipments though, so you will go out after April, time to be determined.
My contact with New Titan unfortunately had his power go out, so he's getting me the shipping costs shortly still. I will be reaching out early next week for when that's all assigned with Backerkit's help, and again, we will be charging it next Friday.
From The Alley: Enamel Pins!
And as noted on the Alleyman's Tarot campaign today, on the 28th I'll be launching a very small campaign during Backerkit's Pintopia project for a set of Alleyman enamel pins! It features the Alleyman as taken from the photos done by Nicholas Bruno for the original Alleyman's project, and three of the Deaths from the original deck-- The Blood Death, The Fire Death, and The Dancing Death! If it does particularly well, we can unlock the Alleyway Oracle Alleyman design from my photos with KP11, and another set of 3 Tarot Cards!
You can signup to be notified here, and check out our partner project for a set of Hunted enamel pins. As part of Pintopia, we are partnered with the Hunted project, and if you back the both of our projects, you'll get an exclusive collaborative pin from each of us! Hers is a gorgeous wolf in the tarot frame I made, and mine is an Alleyman falling out of the tarot frame, struck through by the glow in the dark blue arrows!
This one I'm expecting no more than 100 or so people, and I'll be fulfilling it from my apartment, so it should be quite small! Hope to see some of you there. : )
7DA
your pub gob
A Few Days Behind | Shipping Rates Going Live | Addresses Lock Tomorrow!
6 months ago
– Thu, Mar 07, 2024 at 09:48:31 AM
Hello alleyfolk!
First of all, my apologies for not updating sooner. I believed I would have shipping rates in hand around the 27th, but that didn't happen. I pinged New Titan and awaited their response. I hate to put out updates for y'all that don't have any real information, so I usually opt to wait until I have info in hand. And now I do!
A Few Days Behind
New Titan was having a real hard time figuring out how to get the packages together between the three decks, alleyman extras, oracle dice extras. All that is quite a bit! But they have figured it out, and are getting me the shipping rates today.
This means we are locking addresses and orders for good TOMORROW.
So if you need to update your address, or add a final item, you have today alone. Reach out to backerkit support asap, or hit me up at [email protected] if you need other items.
Lost Your Survey, Need it to Update Address?
Click through there, put in your kickstarter-related email, and get it taken care of! Especially if you worry you never did your survey at all. There are still 325 people who haven't filled out their surveys, so it's now or never. If you aren't sure if you did your survey, follow the above link, or click here. You can check this way. Please only email me to ask if you did yours if you can't get the survey to send that way. Thanks!
Shipping Rates
As I get those rates today, then ping them over to Backerkit to input to your orders, it will take time. Probably a day or two. That means I will be updating again very shortly to let you know first that orders and addresses are locked for good, then once more the next day or two to let you know shipping rates have gone in. I will be looking to actually charge the shipping rates NEXT FRIDAY THE 15th. So you have a week or so of wiggle room from today/tomorrow.
A reminder that you do have to pay your shipping to get your items, and we are very far past the refund window. So bear that in mind.
Also a reminder that the Wooden Boxes will ship separately on our dime, you won't be charged extra for the package being split. I will also be shipping the Hit Point Press's Animated Tarot separately. It's a big impressive box and will make it hard to get things together in a box otherwise, so I'm going to organize with them now to get those Fablemaker's items either sent from them or to me and then out to y'all.
The Normal Tarot Launched!
On Tuesday, the Normal Tarot's third edition launched over on Backerkit! And to be honest, it was a bumpy launch. The first hour, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc) was down, so we couldn't run ads, we couldn't post to the Alley facebook fanpage or our Facebook page, our Instagram, etc. Then, just 45 minutes in, as Meta came back online, Backerkit itself went down as Brandon Sanderson's new record breaking project went live for nearly 2 hours.
We still cruised on past our funding goal in 9 hours handily, but we lost a ton of momentum having the site go down. So if you have time, the funds, and interest, please give the Normal Tarot a look! We're putting out not just the brand new third edition by Ezra Kimbell (who designed the amazing packaging for the Alleyway Oracles decks and guidebook covers!!), but we're also reprinting the first three versions of the deck, both the original black and white one, and the 2nd edition decks in Gold and Silver foil!
I also know some of you would prefer to wait until you've received your Alleyway Oracles decks before you'd take a look, and that is plenty fair! We'll see you on the later pre-order page for the Normal Tarot in late April and May.
Alright friends, talk tomorrow, and a few days after!
7DA
your pub gob
Pieces of the Alley, Alive! | Upcoming Shipping | Next Publishing Goblin Projects!
7 months ago
– Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 04:35:35 PM
Hello alley friends!
Pieces of the Alley, Alive!
First off, I have been waiting till today because I knew I was getting some items today! So let's take a look at some of the goodies that came in.
The three bags, and (most) of their items! The Arcade bag (Tulsa) is missing its alleyman miniature and dice, as those weren't ready when this set of items came over to the US. But as I understand those are in production. But you can see the bag itself and its tokens, and they look great! The First & Half Bank (Des Moines Findings) zipper bag is fantastic, and has its tarot cloth, moth charm, fake teeth, and three unique coins all together. They're super great quality, and I'm excited about it. Then the Alley Movers jersey string bag (Longview) includes its purple candle, random charms, and the 4 prong key on chain!
Here's a closer look at the tokens, coins, and the key! This is the first time I think I've shared the key at all, so that's pretty fun. Check the video for some more angles on the trinkets, but they are awesome!
If you didn't get any of the add-on bags, now is a good time to go check that out in the backerkit survey, ask me (by email at [email protected] or message here on KS) to unlock your survey. We are locking for sure March 1st!
Upcoming Shipping
I was told 4 days ago that more accurate shipping and fulfillment rates were going to be ready shortly. I think that should mean we'll be assigning shipping rates to people's orders next week. I will of course put out an update when that's going live to let people know and give final timeline for locking and shipping, as well as how the process of paying will work. But as of start of this month I was told we're still on track for April shipping/arriving dates.
Which is just to say, this is all about to be totally real and in our hands in just 2 months! (I was told start of month that decks were already being made! It's so real and exciting)
Next Publishing Goblin Projects
I wanted to wait to launch the Normal Tarot until April, when at least the Alleyway Oracles will be shipping, or partially arrived. Unfortunately, finances dictate the pace of business, and if I want to keep paying my contracted helpers on various upcoming projects, we have to launch now. While New Titan will be our manufacturer and fulfilment for the Normal Tarot, we won't actually be going to manufacturing on that until later this year, so the slight campaign overlap won't delay the Alleyway Oracles in any way whatsoever. I appreciate your understanding on that.
The Return of the Normal Tarot will see the 3rd edition in full color, with beautiful work from Ezra Kimbell, the artist on the Oracle Dice's cover and Lords cards! We are also re-printing the 2nd edition in Gold and Silver foils, and the original edition in black and white.
It'll be a very small project that I will be fulfilling myself from home. I've been tinkering with the designs, but they're going to be very cool little pins! You can see some of what I'm working on below. There will be little 3-"card" sets, a larger alleyman pin or two, and a Wandering Oracle pin from this project.
So a busy March for sure! And of course, the project that has eaten all my money for 3 years now, Confluence, is going live October at the end of the year. But that's a roleplaying game, so I'll bother people on games projects about that one. : )
And that's all for now, my friends!
Talk hopefully in a week or so!
7DA
your pub gob
January Update! | Shipping Timeline | Extended Pre-Orders
8 months ago
– Fri, Jan 12, 2024 at 05:00:24 PM
Hello friends!
So we have an update on production!
The Timeline
As of now, we are in the midst of producing everything. We had some issues with the boxes for the decks but it was sorted and the decks were already in production while we sorted that out. We've had a slight delay but not much of one-- instead of having all the things done by mid January (the next week), we're going to need another couple weeks. Items will be finished in production by end of January.
With the Chinese holiday in February, we will then finish packing up the add-on bags with all their items end of February, then a week picking and packing US and Canadian rewards and shipping the container out mid March, which would arrive in the US start of April and ship out then. So ultimately we are still mostly set on people having things in hand by about mid April.
Locking Addresses
I was ready to lock addresses here in January, but it seems we won't need to for a bit yet.
For US and Canadian backers, your address will be locked in on March 1st.
For International backers outside the US and Canada, we will lock in on March 15th.
That's the official dates we will lock in addresses. Bear in mind we will be adding shipping costs to people's orders then in start of February, and you will have to pay your shipping cost by the date your address is locked to get your items to ship to you in the first wave of shipments. You will then have limited time to get your shipping paid and address in, as per the terms and conditions on the campaign page:
Fulfillmentand Survey Deadline Once the first wave of backer items has been sent out around the world for people who get their surveys and shipping charges in on time*, remaining backers will have 30 moredays to complete surveys to then receive their rewards. Any who do not dosoin that time forfeit their rewards, and funds they paid into the project are considered donations to the project. As noted in refunds, no refunds will be made at thattime for people who do not get their surveys in.
If we hit our timeline of shipping out in late March/early April, that means we will set that date for end of April/early May. It will be decided definitively when our shipping date approaches, and shared in the update. Please stay up to date! : )
Wood Boxes Later
If you got the fancy wooden box, that will take more time to be manufactured and get shipped, so they will be shipped separately. I obviously have no interest in charging you extra shipping at a later date, so I'll chat with our shipping team about folding the cost into the initial shipping charge and see if we can keep that extra cost low for people, no matter where in the world you are.
While I was recording my video for the update I got an email back saying that people won't be charge extra shipping. We're gonna cover it. Yay.
Extending Pre-Orders
Since we aren't locking addresses until March, I'm extending pre-orders to February 29th. This is just for people who missed the Kickstarter. If you want to add items to your pre-existing pledge, reach out to Backerkit support and they can assist you! Or email me at [email protected] and I can unlock your order.
And that's all for now! I'm asking if we can get a set of everything sent my way sooner than later (in Jan/Feb) so I can share all the goodies in a super big fun post! And before the pre-orders close! : )
ZOETROPE
And of course, ZOETROPE is going on right now. Just wanted to mention it. Time travel roleplaying run on cards, and we revealed the box art just now! Pop over if you want to support, we're doing great with the stretch goals but could use your help to reach the next one. : )
Talk again soon friends,
7DA
your pub gob
Final Moments for Pre-Orders | The Timeline as we go into Production! | Happy Solstice!
9 months ago
– Thu, Dec 21, 2023 at 12:31:25 PM
First off, happy Solstice! A very auspicious time to share some news.
A good note that if anyone in your life wanted a copy of any of the decks on here, now is the time. I will be closing the pre-order page when January starts. Pre-Order page is here!
If you needed to adjust anything in your carts, now is also the time. We locked in our totals for all items already and are moving to manufacturing now.
Production Numbers!
And for those curious, just a few numbers! Last time on the Alleyman's Tarot, we sold 25,000+ decks on the Kickstarter, and ordered 40,000 to be made total. We felt that moving 25,000 in a single month meant we could easily move the remaining 15,000 over the rest of that year, and it would be out of production and still feel special and limited edition. We were so wrong, and still have many today. It's still a one-time-printing, but the power of Kickstarter and its limited-time feeling really sold more than we can passively on a site, and we've learned from that.
So for this project, we're sticking to numbers much closer. We'll still have some to sell through 2024, but we're a lot more likely to run out this time in 2024.
As of Oct 31st (a few pre-orders have come in since), we had:
Alleyway Tarot - 4645 claimed, so we're making 6000.
Oracle of Play - 4385 claimed, so we're making 6000.
Oracle of Secrets - 4599 claimed, so we're making 6000.
Astrology Booster - 3357 claimed, so we're making 4500.
Podcast Booster - 2751 claimed, so we're making 4000.
The other items are not bound by a one-time production (the add-on bags, alleyman statues, etc), but we likewise aren't producing much more than was ordered. Also feel it might be hard to sell the add-on bags beyond the decks haha, so they're not planned to last forever, or be a mainstay item in the Pub Gob repertoire.
Production Timeline!
There's just a single item that we're not 100% sure on and are getting samples still, and it's the 4-pronged key in the Oracle of Secrets's add-on bag. We have a manufacturer game for it who is sending a sample to our people now, but it's been a slog. We thought we had someone at the start but they fell through.
Everything else is moving on, and we should be done with production mid January, including the key. Though I did pare down the number of items on the campaign, the add-on bags still have to be assembled together, so it will take a couple weeks to get those bags all assembled before orders can begin to be assembled.
Our plans are, considering the Chinese holiday in February, to ship US/Canadian orders from China late February or the start of March. It will take 2-3 weeks for the ship to arrive to port, then in late March or the first weeks of April, we'll be shipping to your doors. International orders will of course be sent out during that time when the US/Canada orders are crossing the sea.
So by the end of April, the Alleyway Oracles should be in our hands! (People with touched by the alleyman decks, and hand painted statues, will of course be waiting a bit longer, as I have to get the items first then mess with your stuff and get it your way.)
Weestimated delivery to be March, and appears we're off by a month. As Kickstarters go, and especially considering the Alleymans took almost a full year longer to completely finish, I think that's still bueno. If any hiccups occur, you'll all be the first to know.
Shipping!
This timeline does mean that I will be inputting shipping costs to people's orders in January/start of Feb at the latest. A reminder that you will be charged shipping on Backerkit, and that you have a timetable to get your charge taken care of.
There was a whole terms and conditions section on the campaign page, but it sums up to this: We're already past the point of offering refunds on this project. To get your items, you have to pay your shipping cost. If you see it and you decide it's too much and don't pay, or never update a failed card, or never get your package but we sent tracking and you don't followup for 3+ months, there will be no chance for refunds.
I will put out an update when shipping charges go live, and reminders for people to get it taken care of in time, as well as the due dates as they come up. So please follow along with the next updates! They'll be very important.
ZOETROPE and The Return of the Normal Tarot
January 4th, I'm launching ZOETROPE! Zoetrope will be the followup to What We Possess, containing all the same items (plus the Zoetrope expansion), but the campaign images and text will all focus Zoetrope. Anyone who pledged to both will have their orders combined for shipping, so no worries about that. I realized I won't have room for ZOETROPE to have a project later in 2024, so we're doing it now. It's basically just What We Possess stretched out for another 30 days, but I think it'll be worth it to give ZOETROPE its well-deserved spotlight.
Zoetrope is a time-travel rent-a-cop game where you tell a story with your friends using cards to direct what your characters can do. It's roleplaying, but made for ease-of-play. Ideal for parties and one-night sessions, and for improv games or practice.
But that's the games side of Pub Gob, and y'all are more likely to be excited for the Return of the Normal Tarot!
The project will launch early 2024, and will feature an all-new, full color edition of the Normal Tarot, as well as reprints of the 1st and 2nd edition versions of the deck. It will be the final edition of the deck as the Caretaker and I both move on to new projects overall. Ezra K. is doing amazing on this new edition, and I'm excited to restock old editions of the deck to offer in the future.
Iwould like to wait until April to launch itso the Alleyway Oracles has shipped out, but depending on how funds shake out, it may need to launch in March. I'll keep everyone up to date as it happens, but many people beyond myself rely on Pub Gob for their paycheck and I have to keep money coming in to facilitate that!
And in October 2024, Confluence: the Living Archive will be coming to crowdfunding. I'm really excited about this one, it's been over 2 1/2 years in the making with a team of amazing people, and 14 years ago that I began work in different ways myself on this. This TTRPG will feature in-world Atlases you can explore, chock full of notes and ephemera from people in the world who have drawn in it, stuck in letters, flyers, tickets, and more.
Alright friends, that's our final update for the year!
See you in January when we move to start charging shipping and get this project ever closer to our fingertips.
